Politics and State-building in the Solomon Islands

Dinnen, Sinclair; Firth, Stewart

doi:10.26530/oapen_459449

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…While sociopolitical factors may have been blamed for low export levels, it is likely that opportunistic underreporting of exported logs also contributed to this downturn. Government employees, particularly those in the forest sector, are usually implicated in such high-profile bribery and money-laundering activities (See examples in [26] …”

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Logging companies have also been exposed for fraudulent conduct, including tax evasion through illegal logging, under-reporting of export volumes, transfer pricing, informal agreements between buyers, altering species names (using species names with low market value), and bribery [21,26,[29][30][31]. The regularity of such fraud reveals the unprecedented levels of logging-driven corruption in Solomon Islands.…”

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Corruption among logging companies and various sectors of society has also contributed to excessive logging in the Solomon Islands [21,26]. This involves opportunists (i.e.,, influential groups or individuals who cunningly pursue any foreseeable logging opportunities to make financial gains), mostly through illegal transactions [21, 26 -27].…”

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such engagements undermine government policies and environmental protections pertaining to logging. Politicians and government officials benefiting from such illegal deals enable and protect logging interests, even compromising national interests by overstepping any resistance to logging [26,28]. Several high-profile politicians, prominent government officers, and opportunistic individuals and groups have allegedly been associated with such illegal practices and been charged with illegal conduct [18,26].…”

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the last two decades, numerous logging licences were issued for concessions throughout the Solomon Islands [24,26], causingthe near-complete depletion of unlogged forests, as well as prompting re-entry logging which is now increasingly common (Fig. 4) [36].…”

Section: Paucity Of Information For Policy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of Logging in Solomon Islands: The Need for Restoration and Conservation Alternatives

Katovai

Edwards

Laurance

2015

Tropical Conservation Science

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Forests of Asia-Pacific islands have undergone degradation by some of the worst-known selective logging practices in the tropics. It is unclear whether severely damaged forests can return to a pre-logging state via natural regeneration, or whether active restoration is required. In this review, we highlight how the socioeconomic dynamics in the Solomon Islands promote excessive logging, resulting in highly degraded forests. We detail seven key elements currently promoting excessive logging in this region: (i) economic interests, (ii) corruption, (iii) poor employment conditions in the logging sector, (iv) high forest accessibility, (v) resource limitations for forest monitoring, (vi) contention over logging benefits, and (vii) a paucity of information for policy development. Though research on the regeneration capacity of logged forests in the Solomon Islands remains extremely limited, we suggest that some logged forests in the country may require active restoration-especially those that have been most heavily damaged. Our argument is based on previous tree planting initiatives in logged forest in the 1970s and 1980s. We propose three broad restoration techniques-enrichment planting, direct seeding, and the use of artificial perches-as viable options to help restore logged forests in the Solomon Islands. Lastly, we recommend the conservation-concession model to aid forest restoration, given its recent success in the region.

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Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Corruptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Paucity Of Information For Policy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of Logging in Solomon Islands: The Need for Restoration and Conservation Alternatives

Katovai

Edwards

Laurance

2015

Tropical Conservation Science

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Popular political attitudes in Samoa: Findings of the Pacific Attitudes Survey

Leach

Barbara

Mow

et al. 2022

Asia & Pacific Policy Stud

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Popular political attitudes surveys have been conducted globally for several decades, but the Pacific region remains an exception. This paper presents the findings of the first Pacific Attitudes Survey (PAS), conducted in Samoa from December 2020‐January 2021. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of Samoans of voting‐age (n = 1319) the PAS gauges the attitudes of ordinary Samoans to their democracy, levels of popular trust in institutions, attitudes towards the role of government, and to women's participation in politics. Findings reveal high levels of support for democracy and trust in democratic institutions. At the same time, popular political attitudes highlight a distinct model of Samoan democracy, in which respect for modern democratic norms is tempered and entwined with deeper traditions of Samoan community and identity.

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Transformative spaces in the making: key lessons from nine cases in the Global South

et al. 2019

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Creating a just and sustainable planet will require not only small changes, but also systemic transformations in how humans relate to the planet and to each other, i.e., social-ecological transformations. We suggest there is a need for collaborative environments where experimentation with new configurations of social-ecological systems can occur, and we refer to these as transformative spaces. In this paper, we seek a better understanding of how to design and enable the creation of transformative spaces in a development context. We analyse nine case studies from a previous special issue on Designing Transformative Spaces that aimed to collect examples of cutting-edge action-oriented research on transformations from the Global South. The analysis showed five design phases as being essential: Problem Definition Phase; Operationalisation Phase; Tactical Phase; Outcome Phase; and Reflection Phase. From this synthesis, we distilled five key messages that should be considered when designing research, including: (a) there are ethical dilemmas associated with creating a transformative space in a system; (b) it is important to assess the readiness of the system for change before engaging in it; (c) there is a need to balance between 'safe' and 'safe-enough' spaces for transformation; (d) convening a transformative space requires an assemblage of diverse methodological frameworks and tools; and (e) transformative spaces can act as a starting point for institutionalising transformative change. Many researchers are now engaging in transdisciplinary transformations research, and are finding themselves at the knowledge-action interface contributing to transformative space-making. We hope that by analysing experiences from across different geographies we can contribute towards better understanding of how to navigate the processes needed for the urgent global transformations that are being called for to create a more equitable and sustainable planet Earth.

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Politics and State-building in the Solomon Islands

Cited by 18 publications

References 4 publications

Dynamics of Logging in Solomon Islands: The Need for Restoration and Conservation Alternatives

Dynamics of Logging in Solomon Islands: The Need for Restoration and Conservation Alternatives

Popular political attitudes in Samoa: Findings of the Pacific Attitudes Survey

Transformative spaces in the making: key lessons from nine cases in the Global South

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